President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Yakubu Maikyau (SAN), has called on lawyers to equip themselves with the relevant skills to be globally competitive as the legal space is being affected by insecurity.

While noting that the establishment of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AFCTA) has provided opportunities for lawyers in the country, he said the era of law practice of freely travelling around Nigeria, was gone due to insecurity.

He spoke at a two-day annual conference of the NBA Section on Legal Practice (NBA-SLP) with the theme, ‘Legal Practice Without Borders’, in Abuja

“The legal space has so shrunken to a point that you can’t even go to Kaduna the way we used to do,” he said.

“I will leave by 5 am and I’ll arrive in Kaduna before our colleagues; do my matter, leave Kaduna alone in the car from 8 pm and arrive by 10 pm. You could even have a flat tyre alone, you stop, bring put your jack, replace the tyre and continue without any fear.”

The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, charged jurists and legal professionals to brace up against the continued degeneration of the country.

Ariwoola, who was represented by the Administrator of the National Judicial Institute (NJI), Justice Salisu Garba, charged honesty, transparency and integrity among lawyers.

Earlier, the chairman of the NBA, Abuja Branch, Afam Okeke, Esq said the theme spoke to “the ever-dynamic landscape of legal practice and presents a wake-up call for us to utilise the opportunities and innovations that we need to define our niche and develop a borderless practice.”